OREN REBUTS SEGEV'S BOOK. In The Washington Post Book World, Oren writes about Segev:

Fortifying his contention that Israeli malaise created an atmosphere for war, he writes, "Beginning in 1966, more and more Israelis had started to lose faith in themselves and sink into depression." A few pages later, however, to show how an excess of Israeli bravado heightened the war-fever, he asserts, "At the beginning of 1966 . . . Israelis expressed satisfaction and a fundamental faith in their future . . . generating hope and pride." To reconcile these inconsistencies, Segev is forced to divide the war into separate conflicts, each with its own Israel-based cause. "While war with Egypt was the outcome of Israel's demoralization and a sense of helplessness, the fighting with Jordan and Syria expressed a surge of power and messianic passion."

Self-contradictions are only the beginning.
Read the whole thing.

See also The Short Answer to Tom Segev.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Six Day War and Tom Segev and Michael Oren.